Social Security Charter Review: research findings

6. Approach to reviewing the Charter

The Social Security (Scotland) Act requires that the Charter be reviewed every five years and sets out a list of requirements as to who that review should include. In practice, the requirements mean that Social Security Scotland partner organisations and clients should be involved, as well as the Scottish Commission on Social Security.

The Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS) is an independent body that provides expert scrutiny of the Scottish social security system.^[8] Part of the remit of SCoSS is to report to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament on the Charter. This includes how the commitments in the Charter are being met and to take part in reviews. Officials held a preliminary meeting with SCoSS at beginning of the review process. SCoSS confirmed that they would engage with and support the review of the Charter through a process led by government officials and researchers rather than conducting a separate exercise.

Researchers carried out initial work, ‘scoping activity’, to identify priorities and areas of consideration for the review. The aims of this work were to better understand key issues and concerns about how the Charter and Charter Measurement Framework were working. Scoping activity was also used to define how research activity would be carried out and what it would cover.

This section describes the findings from this initial work and how they were used to design the approach to reviewing the Charter.

6.1 Scoping activity

There were two strands to the initial scoping activity. Firstly, researchers held discussions with relevant staff from the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. Researchers also conducted a review of external analysis of the Charter.

Discussions were held with around 20 officials from both the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. The staff involved at this stage had roles which are directly related to the Charter and the framework. These staff included researchers, statisticians and other analysts who produce data relating to the social security system in Scotland. Other officials who took part included those who work on the development of social security policy, in roles relating to the governance of Social Security Scotland, as well as corporate communications.

A review of analysis of the Charter included published reports from 2019 to 2022 from a range of external organisations including public bodies and the third sector.^[9]

The following sections set out key strengths and concerns identified through the scoping activity.

6.2 Views on the Charter and framework – strengths

External analysis of the Charter identified that strengths lay in the co-design process and the central role played by participants with lived experience in this. In written evidence to the Social Security Committee in 2019, Citizens Advice Scotland highlighted the importance of involving those with lived experience in the design of the social security system.

“[Citizens Advice Scotland] welcomes the Charter being co-designed with people with lived experience of the social security system, which we would consider essential to it being meaningful.”^[10]

A further strength was the value of the framework as a way to ensure regular monitoring and reporting on how the Charter commitments are being delivered. In 2022, the Equality and Human Rights Commission looked at the Charter as part of a wider review of evidence about the extent to which covenants and charters improve people’s lives. The Charter Measurement Framework was highlighted as a strong example of how to evidence the way commitments are delivered and make an impact on people’s lives.

“The Social Security Charter mandates measuring the commitments in the charter. This is done through a Charter Measurement Framework which was co-created after the Charter was published, and gathers evidence about progress against individual commitments as well as impact on service users… Of the covenants and charters identified in the literature review, the Social Security Charter therefore provides the most direct evidence of impact in terms of improving people’s lives.”^[11]

In discussions with staff, there was positive feedback that the Charter works well and has successfully shaped a positive organisational culture in Social Security Scotland. There was strong sense of organisational pride around the inclusive, person-centred culture within the agency, and of “doing things differently”, that was linked back to the Charter. Many staff also felt that the Charter was received positively in their interactions with partner organisations and clients.

This feedback mirrors findings from research carried out with Social Security Scotland staff as part of the annual reporting of the framework. Findings show the fundamental role played by the values in the Charter in influencing the culture and ways of working in Social Security Scotland.

“The main reason I joined [Social Security Scotland] was dignity, fairness and respect.”^[12]

“Almost all (96%) staff respondents said they felt confident or very confident to deliver a service in line with Our Charter. Respondents were asked what had helped them to feel confident. Many said the values set out in Our Charter were reflected in staff attitudes and ways of working. Comments said there was a strong awareness of and respect for the values in Our Charter. Some comments mentioned training to understand the commitments made in Our Charter and how to apply them in their day-to-day work.”^[13]

6.3 Views on the Charter and framework – concerns

There was a concern among staff that the Charter may be being drawn on less in policy making than it was at the outset. The Benefit Take-up Strategy was given as an example of this. Staff highlighted that whilst the original strategy drew heavily on the Charter, subsequent strategies have built on previous versions without going back to the Charter commitments.^[14]

Staff raised some concerns that Social Security Scotland’s culture, as shaped by the values in the Charter, could gradually shift or be diluted over time. This included a concern about the potential impacts of a high proportion of staff coming from the DWP. There was a concern that there could be a gradual cultural shift away from the values in the Charter and closer to DWP ways of working if staff did not regularly use the Charter to guide their approaches. The “ask your neighbour” aspect of staff learning could pose this risk and staff felt there was a need to guard against this type of cultural slippage.

Regarding the Charter Measurement Framework, there was some concern raised by staff about a potential mismatch between the framework measures and the operation of Social Security Scotland. For example, the availability of management information and other data. This did not mean that the Charter commitments weren’t being delivered, but that the way the commitments were required to be measured did not give a helpful representation of organisational performance. Moreover, some measures required disproportionate resource to collate and report data to evidence performance, often in multiple ways across the framework. Staff highlighted that this was leading to poor utilisation of analytical resource. There was also feedback that the framework is a long and relatively complex document, which requires a detailed understanding of various data and the operational practice of Social Security Scotland.

In the early discussions with staff, there were also some concerns about the nature and scope of the review process itself. There was a concern that the review found the right “balance” within the Charter given the evolving roll-out of social security in Scotland. The Charter was designed before Social Security Scotland was operational and is written in that context. In the years since 2018, the agency has developed and grown, and will continue to do so, as the focus of the system moves from creating and transferring benefits to the next phase of delivery. Staff highlighted that it was important the review took into account this evolving context and how the Charter could stay relevant and meaningful for the next five years. Relatedly, there was a concern that a focus on Social Security Scotland’s performance or operational issues could limit the ability of the review to fully explore the content of the Charter.

6.4 Key principles of the review and research activity

The findings from the scoping activity established four key principles for the review and research activity.

A priority was to deliver a review which met the legislative requirements to engage with the various stakeholder groups. Following the initial discussions with staff, researchers also considered it important to include Social Security Scotland staff in a more formal capacity, going beyond the legislative requirements. This meant that research activity was carried out with three groups: Social Security Scotland staff; clients with experience of the Scottish social security system; and partner organisations who work with Social Security Scotland and/or clients.

Given the key strength of the original co-design approach, it was important that research activity followed a similar methodology. This would ensure that clients were again at the heart of the process. Research with clients would use a similar workshop approach. This meant establishing a core group of client participants who would take part in the process over several months. Participants would receive advice and input from staff and relevant partners. This would help to ensure that the revised Charter reflected the operation of Social Security Scotland and realistic potential for future improvements. Whilst experiences of service delivery would of course be an important aspect, the focus of the co-design approach would be the Charter content in the context of the five year review period.

It was also important that research commit a proportionate amount of staff time to the review. Given the positive feedback identified from the scoping activity, the process would review the Charter and the framework but not carry out a wholescale rewrite. The original co-design process was thorough and the scoping activity indicated that the Charter for the most part remained reflective of clients’ needs and hopes for Social Security Scotland. The review would reflect on the existing Charter and highlight areas for improvement and change, rather than attempt to start from scratch.

Lastly, although not part of the formal legislative requirements, the review should also consider the Charter Measurement Framework. This was important to maintain the close link between the two documents and ensure consistency. Following feedback from staff during the scoping activity, a review of the framework would also be used as an opportunity to ensure it better aligns with how Social Security Scotland works in practice and the data that is available to evidence the measures. The review of the framework would reflect the priorities identified through the co-design process for the Charter itself. Due to its more complex nature and reliance on analytical processes, the framework would require more detailed input and recommendations from staff. This approach would be discussed by the core client group and build on their recommendations for the Charter itself.

The research undertaken to write the original Charter also included the branding of the Charter document, the information covered in the introduction, as well as the naming of the Charter itself. The research undertaken as part of the review would not include these elements. The name of the Charter is now well established and in line with the intention to review but not re-write the document, the name of the Charter was considered outside the scope of this work. The introduction to the Charter would be updated by Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland officials to ensure it remained in-line with legal, policy and delivery requirements. Any changes to the branding of the Charter document would be considered by the Social Security Scotland communication team once revisions had been agreed.

The outputs of the research process would be: a revised Charter; a revised list of framework measures; and a report detailing the research process. The outputs would be considered by officials and ministers and a revised Charter would be laid to Parliament for approval in early 2024. A revised framework will be published once a revised Charter has been agreed by Parliament.

6.5 Research approach

The research approach was broken down into three strands and three phases. The strands were: staff, partner organisations and clients. The phases were three-month blocks across 2023. Activity in each of the phases is outlined below. More detailed information about the methods used in each strand of research are described in section seven.

6.5.1 Phase one (April to June): Understanding and shaping priorities

In this phase, researchers conducted research with Social Security Scotland staff, partner organisations and clients as follows:

• Social Security Scotland staff were invited to take part in focus group discussions.
• Partner organisations were invited to take part in a survey or interview.
• Clients were invited to take part in a short survey with questions exploring their views of the Charter. Clients were also able to express interest in taking part in workshops during phase two.

6.5.2 Phase two (July to September): Workshops with clients

In this phase, research focussed on working with clients to understand their priorities and needs from the Scottish social security system and developing revisions to the Charter. Activities during this phase were as follows:

• Researchers facilitated workshops with a core group of Social Security Scotland clients. These took place via video call, with four workshops held during this phase.
• Ongoing staff input on findings and advice about draft changes to the Charter and framework.
• Clients from groups that may not be represented in the membership of the core group were invited to take part in interviews or focus group discussions to help understand gaps in the experience of the core group.

6.5.3 Phase three (September to December): Final analysis and write up

This phase focussed on consolidating changes to the Charter and framework. Researchers:

• Facilitated a final core group workshop to sense check findings and agree final recommendations.
• Concluded work to produce a list of proposed changes to the framework.
• Built on analysis developed throughout phases one and two focus and drafted this research report to describe the research process and findings.

The key principles and research approach were agreed by a working group made up of staff from the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. Advice and guidance was also incorporated from a Research Advisory Group convened to support the research process. More information about the Research Advisory Group is given in section 7.3 below.

6.6 Approach to reviewing Charter Measurement Framework

As outlined above, it was agreed that the review should also consider the Charter Measurement Framework. Given its strength in evidencing how the Charter commitments are being delivered, a priority for reviewing the framework was to ensure that it is closely aligned with any revisions made to the Charter. The original framework was designed after the Charter had been considered and agreed by Parliament. The research approach to the Charter Review meant that changes to the Charter would be developed over the course of 2023. These would then be considered by officials and ministers with any recommendations for changes being laid to Parliament in early 2024. To ensure alignment, changes to the framework would not be finalised until after revisions to the Charter have been agreed.

As outlined above, discussions with staff conducted as part of the scoping activity identified areas for potential improvement of the framework. Across 2023, researchers would continue to engage with staff, particularly analytical staff, to gain a fuller understanding of issues affecting the framework and to identify how measures could be updated.

Alongside staff input, feedback from clients and partner organisations would also be used to shape updates to the framework. Questions about the framework were included in the range of research with both groups. Findings from the review of the Charter would also feed in to the review of the framework. This would ensure the emerging changes to the Charter were mirrored in proposed revisions to the framework to ensure commitments continued to be robustly measured.